2000 thomas built bus with cat engine and allison tranny

[whitt91]

Hi i am looking to buy this bus possibly has 212xxx miles on it. In northern ca. It has a cat engine with an allison tranny. 28 ft with air brakes and suspension. Are the cat engines and allison tranny good? They dont have records fir repairs or anything like that. It also has this box inside that i dont know what its for. Made by tradewinds power corp

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

which CAT engine?
which ALLISON transmission?
a picture of the box inside you dont know?
a picture of the tranny shifter will help us identify it.
just guessing but i will say cat 3126 with an allison 3060. as far as the box?

[whitt91]

So i was able to see it is a cat 3126/cfe with a 2000 series allison tranny. It is a auto. I posted the pictures and the first on is the box installed by dash

[Oscar1]

Don't think it's a 3060, I can see what looks like a T handle shift console behind the mystery box which looks like a remote start for a generator.

[whitt91]

Yes it is t shift with reverse on top then neutral and forward gears below. I have added the trans plate it says its a 2000 series.

[o1marc]

The mystery box is an additional control panel someone added because the other guages were probably faulty. Looking at the dash and the missing T handle shifter and wires around would make me run from this bus.
If you can find out what county school system it was from , you'll be able to access maintenance records.

[EastCoastCB]

I've got a 99 very similar to that bus. I like it a lot.
The Cat 3126 is as good as any other medium duty engine of the era. Better than some.

[whitt91]

The seller also has another with 197xxx miles and all the switches. Someone said they wanted that one but might fall through.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Oscar1

Don't think it's a 3060, I can see what looks like a T handle shift console behind the mystery box which looks like a remote start for a generator.

IDK what this bus has in it, but 3060's were ordered with t-handles by some districts. They're not super common but they do exist.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by whitt91

Yes it is t shift with reverse on top then neutral and forward gears below. I have added the trans plate it says its a 2000 series.

3126 with a 2000 is a great combo.

[Oscar1]

Agree with Marc, that hacked up dash/control panel looks like a real big mess.

[whitt91]

Yeah i was concerned with that. Nothing looked cut just missing

[Pinelander2020]

Hi, this is Pinelander 2020.
I have the same bus 1999, Thomas/Freightliner, 9 windows, handicap lift, CAT 3126, ALLISON 2000, AUTO, Diesel, Air & ABS breaks, etc.....this bus is awesome and reliable as long as you do a serious TLC.
Enjoy your bus, oh! By the way...for this size of buses, it's call SKOOLIE in general.
Regards

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by whitt91

Yeah i was concerned with that. Nothing looked cut just missing

They had it apart for some issue or another. Usually when I leave a job looking like that, it means I didn't fix it.